Children’s Hospital, New Orleans
Since its opening in 1955, Children’s Hospital has continually offered the most advanced pediatric care. With more than 40 specialties, 247 beds and more than 400 physicians, it is the only full-service hospital exclusively for children in Louisiana and the Gulf South, offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient care. A not-for-profit facility, it is governed by an independent board of trustees made up of community volunteers with no stockholders and no dividends to pay. Revenue generated is used to operate the hospital and to expand and advance services.
Tulane Hospital for Children, New Orleans
Tulane Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine provides for the healthcare needs of all of our children, today, tomorrow and beyond. The Child Life Department offers “therapeutic play” to patients of Tulane Hospital for Children. Play is the concrete way that children explore their inner thoughts and feelings, and also the way they learn about and understand their world. Storytelling, music, game playing, arts and crafts, puppetry, doll play and medical role-play are many ways in which the Child Life Specialists interact with children to encourage expression and discussion.
“Funny Bones has been a wonderful, positive and interactive addition to the programming offered to our patients.”
Ochsner Medical Center, New Orleans
In accordance with Ochsner for Children’s family-centered care philosophy, Child Life Specialists recognize and support each family’s individuality, strengths and mechanisms for coping. They are members of the comprehensive healthcare team, focusing on promoting normal growth and development, and use play and other forms of communication to help reduce the stress of the healthcare experience for children and their families.
Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago
We are guided by the belief that all children need to grow up in a protective and nurturing environment, where each child is given the opportunity to reach his or her potential. We believe this vision can provide a brighter future for all children. Our vision is inspired by the courage of children and families. It is sustained by the extraordinary contributions of compassionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated staff and volunteers, and built upon a strong tradition started in1882 of providing unsurpassed health care for children.
Rush Children’s Hospital, Chicago
The Child Life Program at Rush Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, a component of Rush University Medical Center, focuses on the emotional and developmental well-being of hospitalized children and their families. Hospitalization interrupts a child’s normal life. Illness, confinement, and painful medical treatment can be very frightening and confusing to children. When children are seriously ill, they may become more dependent on their parents, lose their self-esteem, and miss out on many learning opportunities. All of this can jeopardize a child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual growth. Through therapeutic play, art, and other forms of communication, our program strives to help children and families cope with the difficult experience of being in a hospital.